Alumni in Action: Ron Dellums (MSW '62)

​Ron Dellums (MSW '62) on political engagement and becoming the "black Sigmund Freud"

Former Oakland mayor Ron Dellums (MSW '62) grew up on Wood Street in West Oakland, attended Oakland schools and graduated from Oakland Technical High School. After graduating from San Francisco State University, Dellums attended the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley in 1960-62. He then worked as a psychiatric social worker for the California Department of Mental Hygiene, directed programs in Bayview/Hunters Point and served as the director of employment programs for a Bay Area consulting firm.

He began his career as a politician in 1967 at the Berkeley City Council and in 1970 was elected to the US House of Representatives, where he served 28 years representing Berkeley, Oakland and the surrounding areas. He was known for his expertise on military policy and was a leader on environmental, labor and consumer issues as well as civil rights. Dellums became Mayor of Oakland in 2006. He shared his thoughts about his time at the School.

What was your area of concentration when you were getting your MSW at the School of Social Welfare at UC Berkeley?
I received my Masters Degree in Social Welfare, with an emphasis in psychiatry. I wanted to become the black Sigmund Freud.

What were some of the highlights of your experience at the School?
It's impossible for me to pick just one. My time at Cal was one of the best experiences of my life and truly prepared me for my future. After I graduated I was eager to get out and help my community. I took the State of California's Civil Service Examination for Social Workers right away. I knew there was a great deal I could contribute to new treatment modalities to better understand and help individuals manage their complex lives and cope with the various pressures that impinge upon the human condition. Having passed first among all who took the exam at that sitting, I had many job opportunities at sites throughout the state. I chose to work in Oakland, with clients from the type of neighborhoods throughout the city with which I was so familiar.

How did the education you received inform your career as a politician?
I believe the combination of my upbringing and my education have allowed me to not get caught up in the cynicism of the moment. I learned that active involvement with other human beings can change the course of events. You can't buy into this overstated notion of cynicism that things can't change; that things are the way they are that is it. I believe, thanks in part to my education, that the extent to which you opt out of the process and become an arm chair spectator, you allow your cynicism to deny your need to grapple with necessary change. Your engagement, your involvement, your participation, can change things. If there's anything that this life is trying to tell you it's that you can go in, you can fight the good fight, maintain the fidelity of your ideas, be willing to step up to the fight and engage. And you never know, you may just change the world.

What important lessons did you learn in your life as social worker that helped you be a better politician?
As a social worker, I learned how to be a better member of the human family, period. As a black man, I understood fully that many of the obstacles that individuals face during their lives are social and structural — some especially arduous, such as racism — rather than personal. On the other hand, I knew from my own life that personal issues and struggles had at times derailed me from the path of success that my parents had tried to keep me on. With my education and training providing a professional overlay to my childhood and adult experiences, I had come to believe that by listening, paying attention and appropriate intervention I could help people to better cope with the various factors that affected their lives.

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The School of Social Welfare is a place that brings together people with some incredible aspirations and connects them with knowledgeable, profound professors and incredible staff.

- James Orlando (MSW ’11),
Berkeley Social Welfare Alumni

Academic Programs

Berkeley Social Welfare trains our students for a range of leadership, research, teaching and practice roles in the profession. Students are prepared to practice at specific intervention levels and are thoroughly grounded in the knowledge of social and psychological concerns, social welfare policies and social service organizations.

The collaborative opportunities both within and outside the School of Social Welfare are outstanding, the academic environment is rich and challenging and the location can't be beat.

- Aron Shlonsky (PhD ’02),
Berkeley Social Welfare alumni

Resources for Current Students

Berkeley Social Welfare offers a variety of advising resources to help guide students through their academic program, the Berkeley campus and into the world of social work. The following web resources are frequently accessed by current Social Welfare students.

Field Education

As students develop their applied mastery in one of over 350 carefully selected field placements, Berkeley Social Welfare field education consultants provide them with individualized assessment, support and coaching throughout their academic journey.

My internships at the School helped me realize that I had the skills to be a leader, a manager and a systems-thinker. I learned as much about myself at UC Berkeley as I did about social welfare.

- Ericka Leer (MSW ’05),
Berkeley Social Welfare alumna

Research

UC Berkeley’s world-class faculty and research units can be leveraged to conduct studies that make a difference. Berkeley Social Welfare faculty lead a number of research units, and the School houses the California Child Welfare Indicators Project and the California Social Work Education Center. To learn more about the important work and cutting-edge research taking place at the School of Social Welfare, explore our specialized Research Areas and Research Units.

Programs

Berkeley Social Welfare houses several programs designed to provide educational and training opportunities to social work students and professionals; contribute impactful research informing service delivery; and foster relationships among institutions, students and service providers in California, the United States and throughout the globe.

People

The UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare's pre-eminent faculty rank top in the nation in per capita productivity. Nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their fields, our senate faculty conducts cutting-edge research on the major issues facing California, the US and the world. Berkeley Social Welfare field faculty represent a diversity of experience and talents, training and preparing our students to excel as the next generation of social work practitioners, professionals and educators.

People

The UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare's pre-eminent faculty rank top in the nation in per capita productivity. Nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their fields, our senate faculty conducts cutting-edge research on the major issues facing California, the US and the world. Berkeley Social Welfare field faculty represent a diversity of experience and talents, training and preparing our students to excel as the next generation of social work practitioners, professionals and educators.

People

The UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare's pre-eminent faculty rank top in the nation in per capita productivity. Nationally and internationally recognized as leaders in their fields, our senate faculty conducts cutting-edge research on the major issues facing California, the US and the world. Berkeley Social Welfare field faculty represent a diversity of experience and talents, training and preparing our students to excel as the next generation of social work practitioners, professionals and educators.